"There's no false representation of their relationship, Venus and Serena Williams have been close the entire way" - Andy Roddick
Serena Williams and her sister Venus have dominated the women's game for a big part of the last two decades. Venus and Serena have a total of 30 singles Grand Slams between them, and have beaten each other to take home Major trophies on multiple occasions.
The two, however, have never let their on-court rivalry affect their relationship with each other. Both Serena and Venus can often be seen cheering for each other in big matches. The two have even shared the court for doubles, winning multiple Grand Slam titles and an Olympic gold.
Against that background, former World No. 1 Andy Roddick recently spoke about the bond shared by Serena and Venus Williams. Roddick's comments were part of the podcast called "The GOAT: Serena" hosted by Zina Garrison and Chanda Rubin.
"There's no false representation of their relationship. They've been close the entire way." - @andyroddick on the relationship between #venuswilliams and #serenawilliams https://t.co/O4RuTRe6Sx
Roddick complimented Venus and Serena Williams for sharing a close bond throughout their careers, and asserted that there has never been a "false representation" of the duo's relationship.
"You know it's funny, Venus and Serena, they get mentioned in the same breath," Roddick said. "[But] there's no kind of false representtation of their relationship. They were close the entire way."
Roddick went on to draw parallels with the relationship between him and his brother, joking that they get into fights over the smallest of issues. The American also claimed he couldn't imagine what it would be like to compete against a sibling for "titles" and "millions of dollars".
According to Roddick, this sort of dynamic between siblings cannot be found anywhere else in sport.
"My brother and I have gotten into fights over last stupid Thanksgiving," Roddick said. "So forget about playing for titles, and million of dollars, and battling egos."
"You think of the Mannings right, and you kind of come up with these other equivalents," he added. "But they're not literally going against each other, their teams are playing each other, but they're not fighting each other. So it's a completely different dynamic. How [Serena and Venus] have pulled it off, it's amazing."
Serena Williams and Venus Williams to end 2021 season at their lowest rankings in over a decade
Both Venus and Serena Williams have endured rough seasons in 2021, and that has had a direct impact on their world rankings.
Serena Williams started the year by making a return to the top 10, but has since faced a major slide. She is currently ranked No. 41 and is likely to end 2021 around the same mark, which will be her lowest year-end finish since 2006.
Venus Williams is in an even worse situation, having slid all the way down to No. 173. If the American chooses to skip the rest of the season, she could well end up closing at her lowest year-end ranking since way back in 1996.